Monteriggioni

Monteriggioni (1290-1554) was a city-state in the countryside of the Tuscany region of Italy. In 1290 it was founded as an independent state from Siena by the Auditore family, and Monteriggioni was a traditional enemy of Florence from its start to end.

History
Monteriggioni itself was constructed in 1213 as a city of Siena, but in 1290 the Venetian House of Auditore moved to Tuscany and constructed the Villa Auditore in the city. The Auditores ruled over Monteriggioni as a city-state, and they had to resist pressure from the nearby Republic of Florence, which attempted to capture Tuscany time and time again. In 1320, the Florentines damaged the city's outer walls, but failed to penetrate the city. In 1321, Domenico Auditore renovated the city to make it larger and more defendable, and the condotierro Mario Auditore hired a large army to defend Tuscany during his tenure as ruler from 1454 to 1500.

In 1454, Federico da Montefeltro attempted to attack the city as Luciano Fezzati stirred up unrest amongst the people. However, Auditore's light cavalry made several attacks whenever they could, and spearmen defended the city from attack. Montefeltro's attack was repulsed, and Monteriggioni retained its independence.

The city-state had a tradition of one year being a Florentine enemy, and the next year it was their ally. From 1476 to 1500 there were no attacks on Monteriggioni by the Republic of Florence, but in 1500, the Papal States army under Cesare Borgia, Juan Borgia the Elder, and Octavian de Valois captured the city in a large assault and Mario was killed. Monteriggioni remained under the control of the Borgia, but it was later re-occupied after the fall of the Borgia in 1503. Between 1500 and 1554, Monteriggioni was reclaimed by the Auditore family, and it remained an Auditore city until Giovannino Zeti's betrayal in 1554. He was allowed to return to Florence (he was an exile) in exchange for giving over the keys to the city, and the Medici conquered the city. However, the Auditores were allowed to rule over Monteriggioni under the thumb of Florence, as the Medicis were grateful for the actions of Ezio Auditore da Firenze and Giovanni Auditore da Firenze in the 1470s in stopping a conspiracy to overthrow them.